Marilyn Manson - Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death)

My Thoughts: (Reviewed by O. Anderson)

All hail the greatest Manson album there is! This album truly captures the escence of Marilyn Manson, the perversity, the controversy... it's beautiful. Now, I have to give props to K-Billy for getting me into Manson, because back in the day he bought "Holy Wood" and lent it to me... and I immediately fell in love with it. As a result, I purchased pretty much every Manson album, including the EPs, and now, of course, he's my favourite artist. I really do believe that this is the best of Manson's albums, even topping the outrageously amazing "Antichrist Superstar". On this album, you'll find most of his most popular songs, including "the Fight Song" and "Disposable Teens". I personally feel he could've and should've released every song on the album as singles, because every one of them is amazing. His music has such a big range, it can get you pumped up ("The Fight Song", "Burning Flag", "President Dead"), or it can make you depressed ("Coma Black", "Target Audience") or it can do anything. Also, on this album you'll find the best of the band's talents. I personally feel that on this album, John 5 (guitarist) met his pinnacle, spanning his range a little more, dropping the tuning a little for more of a heavy metal sound, yet still maintaining his normal "rock 'n roll" sound. This method is perfectly demonstrated on my favourite track on the album "Cruci-fiction in Space". Also, we catch a little acoustic stuff on an amazing track "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death". As for the drums of Ginger Fish, which I never thought much of, I was thoroughly impressed as I saw a big improvement from "Mechanical Animals". I personally think that every aspect of this Manson album was a drastic improvement from the past albums, the music better, the lyrics more thoughful, and the energy more present. If one were looking to get into Manson, this would definitely be the way to go.

Key Tracks:

All Of Them